Would you join me in the Lenten practices of prayer, fasting and alms giving for the next 40 days?
Catholics around the world commenced this period of Lent on Ash Wednesday. The Sign of the Cross was marked with ashes on foreheads with these words: Remember, man, that you are dust, and to dust you shall return; or Turn away from sin and be faithful to the Gospel.
My intention is not to sin! Yet, I get so easily preoccupied with self, with my need to do things my way. And it's not the big, bad sins... it's the subtle lapses, the little things piling up, taking my focus from God: the lack of discipline with spending time reading and meditating on God's word; the little slips of the tongue; the complaining. When I get caught up in the things I shouldn't do, my relationship with God suffers. Lent is the time to choose God.
It is a penitential time, a time to withdraw from distractions, to make sacrifices, to turn away from our idols and sin in order to draw closer to God, to put Him first. It's a time to recall Jesus' great act of love: the passionate death He willingly endured to atone for our sins, so that we may have eternal life.
It's a time of wonder and awe and thanksgiving as we reflect and, hopefully, deeply experience God's great love for us. It's a time to prepare our hearts for the joy that will come at Easter when we celebrate Jesus' victory over sin and death.
Friend, wherever you are, I pray you experience God's intimate love for you in new and surprising ways during this Lenten season. Look for opportunities to give, to serve others. And please... take time to thank God for His love shown through Jesus' death on the Cross; love poured out into your heart through His Holy Spirit.
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